cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Kenyatta Jackson /Ohio State

Kenyatta Jackson

DE · Ohio State · Sr · #97

Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.

28 TACKLES · 6.5 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Ohio State for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Ohio State for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive end · Ohio State

Returning around him

  • 31% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
  • 11 Ohio State players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -20 net (17 in / 37 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Ohio State · Last season: 12-2 (AP #3) · Talent rank #3 · 2026 recruiting class #4

DE · OHIO STATE · BIG TEN

Kenyatta Jackson

  • 4
  • #97
  • 6-6 | 265 lb
  • Hollywood, FL

CFB Zeitgeist Score

77

All-Conference in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 98th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#3834

<1% win probability

Fan Belief

Awaiting

Player-specific FI not yet ingested. Falls back to team mood below.

Respect Gap

Awaiting

Coming online with player-level FI.

Reality Gap

Awaiting

Coming online with player-level FI.

ACCOLADE PROBABILITY

Heisman

<1%

TOP DEFENSE AWARD

Nagurski

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 2 · Starter

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★★
#60 national
CFB
College
Ohio State
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.

PositionDE
Class4
Jersey97
Measurements6-6 | 265 lb
HometownHollywood, FL
Primary teamOhio State

Recruiting Pedigree

How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.

Top pedigree 4-star No. 60 recruit
Composite rating 0.9748 HighSchool
Signed with Ohio State 2022
Origin Chaminade-Madonna Hollywood, FL, USA
Class Profile Context
2022 4-star | 0.9748 No. 60 recruit | HighSchool | Ohio State

Transfer Arc

Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.

Portal moves 0 No portal entry on file
Latest destination -- --
Transfer stars -- CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility -- Transfer date TBD
Season Move Context
No transfer portal moves on file for this player.

Heisman Lens · 2024 Season · Final

Where the player landed at the end of the listed season — final nowcast rank, win/finalist/ballot probabilities, and the cleanest official Heisman placement on file.

HIGH CONFIDENCE· through week 16
Current nowcast#3834Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#3445Where the full season sim points
Win probability0.0%Chance to actually win the trophy
Finalist probability0.0%Chance to make the finalist tier
Ballot probability0.0%Chance to appear anywhere on a ballot
Best official finish--Best completed Heisman placement on file

Heisman Futures

Not yet listed on major futures markets.

No achievements unlocked yet this season.

Selector Grid · 2025

AP
FWAA
AFCA
WCFF
SN
SI

Selector recognition fills in once the major honors lists (AP, FWAA, AFCA, Walter Camp, Sporting News, SI) are scraped and ingested.

NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft

Market value, pedigree & pro outcome

Recruit stars

★★★★☆

to Ohio State

Composite

0.9748

#60 national

Today’s Hot-Take

The Hot-Take engine fires when this player’s percentile profile crosses a defensible threshold (top 10% in a cohort, 100+ snap sample). When it’s quiet, the model is honoring its “must be defensible” rule.

Anti-Take

PENDING

The contrarian read fires when the rules-engine detects a stat that complicates the Hot-Take. Quiet here means the model hasn’t found a defensible counter yet — not that one doesn’t exist.

The Room on Kenyatta Jackson

Fan sentiment · Awaiting signal

The Room reads fan conversation around a player — who’s talking, what they believe, and how that shifts. It publishes once weekly volume rebuilds; for most players that’s in-season, when game-week chatter spikes.

Cohort divergence map

Cohort divergence reads how different fanbases talk about this player. Returns once weekly mentions clear the publish floor.

Rival Radar

How rival fanbases talk about Kenyatta Jackson

No rival-bucket mentions in the current season.

Signature Story

Awaiting candidate metric

He hasn't written his page yet — we'll start filling it in when there are enough snaps to rank against his peers.

Signature Moment

No signature moment on the ledger yet.

Returns once this player puts together a multi-game body of work — single-game flashes alone don't clear the bar.

A 3-act season arc returns once this player has six or more games on the ledger.

Season Pace · Projection

Where the defensive totals stand

final
Through 13g
28Tackles
11Tackles for loss
6.5Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.8Tackles for loss
0.5Sacks
Final
28Tackles
11Tackles for loss
6.5Sacks

✓ Hit 6-sack season · finished with 6.5.

Why this is a rare defensive case

The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.

Kenyatta Jackson is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Ohio State's defense, with 6.5 sacks, 11.0 tackles for loss, and -- interceptions through the current loaded season. For a defender, the question is never just production; it is whether elite disruption and team context can become nationally undeniable.

Current place #3834 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 60 recruit

2025 Season · Final

Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.

Last season

DEF season snapshot

2025 season snapshot | final

2025 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Total tackles 28 16 solo | #1469/4942 (70th pct)
TFL 11.0 Backfield disruption | #74/4972 (99th pct)
Sacks 6.5 Pass-rush finish | #55/4972 (99th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-disruption defender against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defender

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
28 70th
SOLO
16 71st
TFL
11.0 99th
SACK
6.5 99th
QBH
2 66th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
2 64th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 14-7vs Texas300.00.00
Wk 3W 37-9vs Ohio211.00.00
Wk 5W 24-6@ Washington111.01.00
Wk 6W 42-3vs Minnesota000.00.01
Wk 7W 34-16@ Illinois211.50.50
Wk 8W 34-0@ Wisconsin111.01.00
Wk 10W 38-14vs Penn State432.52.01Season-high 4 tackles
Wk 11W 34-10@ Purdue220.00.00
Wk 12W 48-10vs UCLA421.00.00
Wk 13W 42-9vs Rutgers210.00.00
Wk 14W 27-9@ Michigan332.01.00
Wk 15L 10-13vs Indiana311.01.00
BowlL 14-24vs Miami100.00.00
Total281611.06.52
Season-by-season tables Career rows + per-season box score

Traditional history

Traditional Stats

Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.

Season rows Career row

Season context · Team result + system

2022Ohio State11-2HC: Ryan Day · Balanced
2023Ohio State11-2HC: Ryan Day · Balanced
2025Ohio State12-2HC: Ryan Day · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Ohio State281611.06.52----
2023Ohio State732.01.5------
2022Ohio State221.00.0------
Career3 loaded seasons372114.08.02----
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context

Advanced metrics second

Advanced Metrics

Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.

Usage Value Context
Disruption stats

TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.

Coverage splash

Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.

Peer percentile

Every percentile is compared against players at the same position and level, so an FBS quarterback is judged against FBS quarterbacks, not the whole sport.

Traditional first

The top tables stick to the stats fans already know from broadcasts and box scores. Advanced context is pushed underneath instead of replacing the basics.

INT -- -- pick-six TD
Pass breakups 2 Coverage disruption | #792/2184 (64th pct)
QB pressures 2 Quarterback hurries | #647/1878 (66th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 28 #1469/4942 70th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 11.0 #74/4972 99th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 6.5 #55/4972 99th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 2 #792/2184 64th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 2 #647/1878 66th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 16 #1348/4584 71st pct Volumevs FBS DEF

Player Standing

Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.

AWAITING CLASSIFICATION

On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex

AWAITING CLASSIFICATION · Rung None of 16

Why he’s here

Standing classification populates when honors, Heisman, and roster signals all align.

What moves him up

What moves him down

Accolade streams

StatusAwaiting tracker

The Lombardi award tracker integrates per-week probability once a dedicated scraper for this award lands. Confirmed past winners and finalists for this player will surface here.

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home8g2.40.70.40.2
Road5g1.81.10.70.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins11g2.20.90.50.2
Losses2g2.00.50.50.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g1.50.60.20.2
Weeks 8+7g2.71.10.70.1

Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DE cohort

77All-Conference
6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (97th). Strength: tackles for loss (97th).

Sacks#55 / 2975 · 98th pct
6.5defe
Tackles for loss#74 / 2975 · 97th pct
11.0defe
QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct
2defe
Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct
2defe
Solo tackles#1348 / 2975 · 53rd pct
16defe
Tackles#1469 / 2975 · 49th pct
28defe

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Advanced Savant · DE · 2024

Percentile Card

Advanced opponent-adjusted percentile bars are coming soon for this player.

P4G5All FBS
EPA / dropback
awaiting
CPOE
awaiting
Success rate
awaiting
Explosive rate (20+)
awaiting
aDOT
awaiting
Deep-ball accuracy
awaiting
Pressure-to-sack
awaiting
3rd-down EPA
awaiting
Red-zone TD rate
awaiting
Play-action EPA
awaiting
Scramble EPA
awaiting
Turnover-worthy play rate
awaiting

Advanced Savant

Opponent-adjusted advanced metrics with a cohort filter.

Advanced opponent-adjusted metrics are coming soon for this player. Selected cohort: P4.

Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match

Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile

3 peers · 6 metrics
Kenyatta JacksonOhio StateRasheem BilesPittsburgh· 73% simColton PharesApp State· 72% simMani PowellPurdue· 72% sim
Sacks
98
Jackson
95
Biles
80
Phares
96
Powell
Tackles for loss
97
Jackson
100
Biles
96
Phares
98
Powell
QB hurries
72
Jackson
88
Biles
72
Phares
82
Powell
Passes defended
67
Jackson
86
Biles
78
Phares
67
Powell
Solo tackles
53
Jackson
91
Biles
95
Phares
99
Powell
Tackles
49
Jackson
98
Biles
98
Phares
99
Powell

Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.

Player DNA

The Power Rusher

Bull-rushes through contact and sets a hard edge against the run.

EDGE

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Vincent Anthony’s 2025 season.

Vincent Anthony

73%match

Duke · 2025

#2

Niles King

San Diego State · 2025

71%
#3

Braiden McGregor

Michigan · 2023

70%
#4

Vincent Anthony

Duke · 2024

69%
#5

Praise Amaewhule

UTEP · 2020

All-Conference USA
69%

Matches Vincent on

Class year
Height
TFL rate

Differs from Vincent on

Weight (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Max Llewellyn's senior season at Iowa (2025).

Max Llewellyn

81%match

Iowa · 2025

NFL Rd 7
#2

Tyler Baron

Tennessee · 2023

NFL Rd 5
80%
#3

Malakai Williams

Boise State · 2025

79%
#4

Vincent Anthony

Duke · 2025

78%
#5

Jordan Strachan

South Carolina · 2023

78%

Matches Max on

Class year
Weight
Sack rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Ryan Day

Pass share

47.0%

408 pass / 461 run

Plays / game

62.1

14 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

4.9%

267 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

1 coach
2022
Ryan Day
Ohio State
2023
Ryan Day
Ohio State
2025
Ryan Day
Ohio State

Played his entire career under Ryan Day.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.

HometownHollywood, FL
Height6'6"
Weight265 lb
Class4
PositionDE
Jersey97

Trophy Case · Detail

Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.

Honors

No formal honors on the ledger yet

All-America, all-conference, player-of-the-week, watch-list, and postseason awards land here when they're earned. The absence is the signal: most players never collect formal honors, and that's its own kind of context.

Honors Timeline

Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.

Season Honor Scope Team / Selector Context
No formal honors on the ledger yet. All-America, all-conference, weekly awards, watch lists, and postseason trophies land here when they’re earned.

Heisman By Year

Modeled rank and official finish by season.

Season Team Role Latest Model Forecast Win Finalist Official Finish Points Context
2024 Ohio State DE4 #3834 #3445 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big Ten
2023 Ohio State DE4 #3351 #3129 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Big Ten
2022 Ohio State DE4 #4150 #3795 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Big Ten

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Ohio State Big Ten DE 4 No. 97 | 6-6 | 265 lb | Hollywood, FL
2024 Ohio State Big Ten DE 4 No. 97 | 6-6 | 265 lb | Hollywood, FL
2023 Ohio State Big Ten DE 4 No. 97 | 6-6 | 265 lb | Hollywood, FL
2022 Ohio State Big Ten DE 4 No. 97 | 6-6 | 265 lb | Hollywood, FL